Great Britain Celebrates 1,000th Olympic Medal

Great Britain won silver in the men’s team pursuit and bronze in the women’s team pursuit in a thrilling finale at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The men’s team, featuring Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon, narrowly missed gold, finishing behind Australia, who claimed their first victory in the event since 2004. Despite trailing Australia by fractions of a second for most of the 4,000m race, Hayter’s last effort fell short and Great Britain finished in a time of 3:42.067, over two seconds behind the winners.

This silver medal marked Great Britain’s 1,000th Olympic medal, spanning both summer and winter Games. The team had previously won gold and silver in the women’s and men’s team sprint finals earlier in the competition. The men’s pursuit squad’s performance was notable with Bigham, who had worked with Denmark as a performance engineer before returning to the GB team, acknowledging the team’s tremendous effort and fast rides throughout.

The women’s team, consisting of Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts clinched bronze after a challenging build-up without Katie Archibald, who was sidelined due to a leg injury. Despite their disrupted preparation, the women overcame Italy in the final stretch to secure their podium spot, continuing Great Britain’s streak of medaling in the women’s team pursuit at every Olympics since 2012.

In other events, the U.S. women’s team pursuit won gold against New Zealand with Kristen Faulkner achieving her second Olympic title, adding to her gold in the road race. Faulkner’s success makes her the first American woman to win Olympic gold in two different disciplines at the same Games.